The present invention relates to a settlement transaction system and a settlement transaction method, and in particular, to a settlement transaction system and a settlement transaction method, for example, using an integrated-circuit (IC) card via a network.
Heretofore, digital broadcast signals used in various facilities such as a communications satellite (CS), a broadcast satellite (BS), a cable television (CATV), and a broadcasting system using ground waves are received by a receiver, for example, a dedicated tuner such as a settop box (STB) and a television terminal integrally included in such a tuner. The settop box and the television terminal or set can bidirectionally communicate data with an external server using a communication line. Therefore, it is possible to implement a method of and a system for providing services using the bidirectional communication such as a system of, for example, online television (TV) shopping. For example, JP-A-2002-24578 describes a method and a system using the bidirectional communication for the online TV shopping to provide services of ordering and delivering articles or items periodically purchased by customers.
For example, JP-A-2003-16361 describes a settlement transaction method and a settlement transaction system which are associated with online shopping and which are capable of coping with various settlement schemes or methods using, for example, a credit card and a debit card to easily and safely conduct online settlement from various terminals via a network. As specifications of processing procedure for the transaction procedure, there has been, for example, EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) specifications. The specifications include “Type Approval” as a terminal approval scheme. The Type Approval has two levels, i.e., Level 1 and Level 2. The functions required therein have been defined by “EMV 2000 Integrated Circuit Card Specification for Payment Systems” and “EMV 1996 Integrated Circuit Card Specification for Payment Systems”.
According to the prior art of JP-A-2002-24578, in the method of and a system for providing services of ordering and delivering articles periodically purchased by customers using the bidirectional communication for the online TV shopping, one server executes processing of order placement, processing of order acceptance, processing of settlement or settlement transaction, processing of personal authentication of the customer, and processing of item information production to produce, for example, an image of an article for sale. Therefore, in a case in which an existing settlement scheme or way of the server copes with only a credit card, if there occurs an event in which a debit card is also specified as a settlement scheme, the server needs to obtain a settlement application coping with settlement using a debit card. However, since the server includes applications not related to settlement, it is difficult, in consideration of the human power of maintenance and the cost for installation of the new application, to additionally install a settlement application for settlement using a debit card.
The settlement transaction method and the settlement transaction system of JP-A-2003-16361 are suitable for electronic commerce (EC) using a network. However, a terminal of the user in this system needs to include settlement applications only for predetermined settlement methods. Therefore, to increase a settlement method, it is necessary to obtain a settlement application coping with the new settlement method.